allAfrica.com: Kenya: Technology Zooms Past Posta's Snail Mail (Page 1 of 2)

Last week, Beryne Dinda received her electricity bill through an e-mail service. The message, delivered instantly to her desktop computer upon her enquiry, advised her to settle a Sh1,200 bill by the following day's deadline or risk disconnection.

A similar bill posted to Beryne's rented post office box arrived two days after the deadline had expired. Had she waited for the actual bill posted to her by the electricity distributor-the Kenya Power and Lighting Company, Beryne's household would have been plunged into darkness.

Such is the tribulations of customers of the postal monopoly, the Postal Corporation of Kenya, which operates some 366,000 rental post boxes countrywide. The Corporation is watching as businesses worldwide are quickly adopting the latest technology which includes e-mail, mobile phone short message services (SMS) and the Internet to deny it business.

Many more people are shunning the post boxes for Internet and e-mail services as timely delivery of hard copy mails is not a guarantee. Evolving technology is zooming past the snail mail. Analysts say the post office mail service is dragging behind with a likely consequence that could spell the death of Kenya's Sh3 billion postal business.

The receding use of snail mail in the age of instant electronic communication and the drive by many companies for a paperless office is seen as the beginning of the end of the Postal services in Kenya.

Technology and Internet-based businesses is posing new dangers to the remnant of the old economy, the Postal Corporation of Kenya (PCK) commonly known as Posta. Is the Internet hurting or complementing the mail service.

Mr Brian Longwe, the general manager African Internet Service Providers Association, says any new technology has the tendency of hurting the traditional ways of transacting business.

"The Internet definitely has impacted negatively on the global postal services. Many people write fewer letters when they can send the same message by email. Through increased use of Intern et technology for communication, people have replaced the traditional ways of communication such as snail mail"

"The Postal Corporation of Kenya needs to look at the new technology as a threat to its business and embrace these technology to re-engineer and innovate its business process if it is to make money in the new world," said Mr Longwe who is also an IT specialist.

Every day, some thousands of envelopes, most of them from the corporate world come and go as first class mail. The mails are delivered through the 366,000 post boxes rented out by the Postal Corporation of Kenya.

The corporation has lost personal mail or social mail business consisting of greeting cards, invitations and other mail -a significant contributor to its stamp sales revenue- to the Internet. "It is true most people prefer to write emails or SMS, it's faster than the snail mail," says the postmaster-general, Mr Fred Odhiambo.

But the postmaster-general says even though personal correspondence have dried up to a fraction of the flow, Posta will not go down. "Personal letters are insignificant. They do not contribute much to the business says Postmaster-General Fred Odhiambo.

Mr Odhiambo, Posta's CEO, says businesses mails-most of which comprise bills, invoices, bank statements and demand letters made 70 per cent or Sh2.1 billion of Posta's Sh3 billion revenue last year.

He believes the business world offers Posta a bedrock of strength that cannot be shaken by the demise of social or private letters. Mr Geoffrey Shimanyula, the managing director of IT solutions provider UUNET, agrees with the postmaster general.

"The post office is not going anywhere, it will continue playing a complementary role-there are some mails that must be posted such as bills and invoices...I do not see the post office going down even though they stand the risk of becoming irrelevant...they need to quickly look for opportunities to boost their revenue," he said.

But Mr Odhiambo admits that because of Posta's slow response to the changing times, it has lost its courier market share to rivals such as Akamba Public Transport, Easy Coach, DHL and FedEx who now control the Sh3.3 billion courier business. New technology is quickly taking away businesses the Corporation monopolised for years.

The Postal Corporation of Kenya has sensed the changing times and has gone to the drawing board to draft new business models befitting the new market dynamics. The changes in the global communication sector has forced the Corporation to review its strategy to give new impetus to its major revenue drivers-the mail, courier and the financial service.

"As the market changes, customers become more demanding. They want quicker services," says Mr Odhiambo. The new business model has included venturing into the agency service sector, franchising loss making post offices, direct mail marketing and a complete restructuring of its money remittance wing and the courier business.

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